Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-04-24
SKETCHES OF MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN
C0NSTANTIN0PLB.
The Hours COnscratst 70 Prayer-A Marriage il
Farksy-The Turkish Lent-SmOking and
Saaf-Tskipg Forbidden.
Emile Juniard in Apa Cosmopolitan.


be conseerated TO prayers, These prayers,
namaz, are five in number. The most
solemn is the morning prayer; it Is the
.sabah namazi; it is uttered after the dawn,
Just before the rising of the sun. The see
ond is the midday prayer, Guile namazl,
The third, jkindy namazi, must be offered
lust before the setting Of the sun. The
evening prayer, aaeham namazi, Is uttered
lust before the shadows conceal the horizon.
! Finally, the last aud nth prayer, yatcy
namazi, is uttered in the interval after sur
down and Just before dawn.
The h,ur of prayers is regularly pro
claimed 10 the faithful by the imamas,
called muezzins, who walk around the
balcony of the minarets, singing, in a mel
ancholy voice, this uuvarying litany:
''GOd, the most high. here proclaim that
there is no God but God. proclaim that
Mohammed is the prophet of God. Come
to the temple of salvation. Great God!
God the most high! There Is no God but
Godw Blind men are usually selected for
muezzius, or at least imams that suffer
from confirmed myOpia, so that they can
not throw inquiSitive glanceS toward the
women that may be promenading on the
terraces OF the houses.
Christians surround their observance Of
PRAYER with kind of mystery or of reserve
that the MuSsulmans know absolutely
nothing of. In whatever place devOut
Osmanh may find himself, whether in his
house, in his shop, in the streets, in pub
lie square, doing business, or VISIT as
soon rs the hour of the namaz is announced
he makes his religious preparations, places
under his knees q small rug, or, IN default
Ofwhich, handkerchief turns his face to-
ward Mecca, places his arms in the shape
Of cross upon his breast, OF putting them
to his forehead, proStrateS himself, then
rises---all this slowly and with strict OBJ
seryanee of rules. II he is in n street, he
does not permit himself to be distracted
and disconnected by nything, not even by
the indiscreet curiosity OF the European,
who looks at him aStOnished by this novel
sight, but who generally has no desire to
ridicule il; for this worship under the open
sky, disregarding social cOnventiOnalltieS,
indifferent to whatever may be said, has
something grand and sacred about it that
banishes all raillery and inspires respect.
Marriage receives scarcely more atten-
ktion among the Turks than birth and death,
hnd there is but little embarrassment from
the administrative fOrmalitieS that prsCede
land accompany this solemn act IN the
INVEST. There are no bans, no announce
mentS, no registrations. \ man obtains
wife Just as he would buy bouquet: but
neither the buyer nor the seller nor the
intermediary asks for a receipt. As II Is
forbidden q man to enter the harem of an
other (even 1t he were n near relative ot
the latter To see a young woman and talk
with her. there are no marriages for love
and no engagements. One father meets
another father, and 1Iys to him: You
have son and have a daughter. IL the
mother OF your son knows lay daughter
let us strike a bargain; If she does not know
her. let them see each other and let us
close up the business The conditions
are discussed, the dowry haggled over,
then ali ,he arrangements between the
parents are made and the young people in
tro6uced to each ether.
Let US add in passing, that among us the
marriages that are contracted in the great
capitals OF Europe, especially in Paris, do
not depart far from this programme In
France, however, a m3n is still allowed to
-behofd the object for the acquisition of
which negotiations are in progress. Ia
Turkey this is forbidden; there marriage Is
a lottery indeed.
Turkish giris are promised usually when
they are very young, even at tender age,
when they are only 3 or 1 years old. IL
the young bride should happen 10 die he
fore her marriage, or ne required for the
sultan's harem-fOr it may be promised
that this is case that breaks ali engage
ments, and Is esteemed As a great honor by
plrents-the intended husband il not ~
pected tO weep over what he loses, Tor he
has never seen it. When the young girl
reaches her twelfth or thirteenth year,
or somewhat later, her fourteenth year,
she receives the nuptial blessing, aud the
husband cannot see the face OF his wife
until after that ceremony.
No wOmin, not even the wife, takes part
in the SOlemnity OF marriage, which Is et-
fected by proxy, delegated to an uncle or
to au elder brother, often with a full beard
who PLAYS the role OF the bride. The par
ents of the couple sign the contract before
the imam of their quarter in the presence
OF a few friends, who act as witnesses.
The nuptials are then celebrated by the
families with calmueSS and gravity that
would he rs suitable for 4 funeral ~ for a
wedding.
The sexes never miugle at these festivals
The men take their pleasure in silence in
Their selamllS; the women little more
noisiiy-it is cut natural--in the harem
lik
Ii the wife Is too Young or has delicate
health, she is not entrusted TO her husband.
She is quickly shut up at her mothers or
at her mother in-law'S sometimes Tor more
than year, until it shall please the latter
- reunite her with her husband. 10 even
happens that the husband has had time to
take n second wife before he receiving his
first
Ii is not, however. always happiness that
the Young wife finds in her new situation,
where she Is often obliged To share with
companions, and often with black and
white slaves, the heart and attentions of
her husband How often have the poor
creatures exchanged their maiden seclu-
sion, captivity that 4 mother always
knows how tn make pleasant, tor another
SecluSion more narrow, more severe, often
aggravated by the neglect ct her husband
or by the brutality and the had treatment
OF a detestable guardian
Like the Catholics aud the Greeks the
{Turks have their Lent. which lasts forty
| days, and which they observe IN all Its
rigOr during that celebrated month known
under the name of RlmaZln.
The Turkish Lent is much more severe
than that observed in Europe, and the god
OF StambOul is not ~ lenieut rs that OF
Rome. lie permits the eating Of neither
eggs nor fish. lie does not in fact, permit
the eating of anything for Mussuimans
are forbidden to eIt and drink anything
whatever from the rising until the setting
of the sun, and that for twenty eight con
secutiye day. Ii Is forbidden even to
smoke, to take SNUFF, to eat loznnges, to
use perfumery, until report OF Il cannon,
Winch IN fired nm the nrlnnimLl umHrLerS NJ